Watching Over You
by GomaMizu
Summary: Koushiro goes in search of his real parent's graves, and finds someone else's... A bit of Taishiro in here...


Watching Over You  
by GomaMizu  
  
A/N - Uh...Just a bunch of Koushiro angst...This time, it's about his parent's son that died just before they adopted him. (I hope that made sense) Anyway...For those that don't know, I use 'Koko' as a feminine(I just know that's spelled wrong...) version of 'Koushiro' (I just think of him as being a bit girlish, sorry!). I think that's about the only thing that needs explaining. Oh, yeah, the little sis comment! - Go read my story "Izumi no Hikari" for an explanation. This takes place about 2 years after Nika was born.  
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"Koushiro-kun?" Taichi asked. "Why are we out here?" He asked, shivering slightly. The crisp fall air was contributing to that, along with the place they were standing outside of.  
  
Koushiro looked up at his boyfriend. "Would you never want to see your parents graves?" He asked quietly, silencing any more protests from Tai.  
  
Tai hung his head. "Sorry." He said, a bit rebuked.  
  
Koushiro just put his hand on Tai's shoulder. "It's alright. I'm creeped out too, if it's any consolation." He said, steeling himself a bit. "This is it..." He said, as he looked down at the almost 15 year old newsclipping. "We're looking for Hikari and..." Koushiro cursed to himself a bit and shook his head. "That was a stupid place to fold this..." He muttered as he once again tried to decipher the Kanji of his father's name. "Well, let's hope they were buried together..." He smirked a bit. "Scared, Tai?" He asked.  
  
"Nah...are you?" Tai asked back.  
  
"Tai, it's almost dark, it's cold, we're wandering around a cemetery, I about stepped on a black cat's tail, and you ask me if I'm scared?!" Koushiro exploded. "Of course I'm scared!!!" Tai just laughed at that outburst. "Tai-chan?" Koushiro calmed down a bit and reached out for Tai's hand. Tai smiled lovingly at him and took the proffered hand.  
  
"It'll be alright, Koko-chan." Tai told him.   
  
Koushiro just nodded, and took a step towards the creepy gravemarkers. "Koko? Remind me again, what's the family name we're looking for." Tai requested.   
  
"It's totally possible we're looking for 'Izumi,' but I believe that my mother may have had her family name on the marker. So keep an eye peeled for 'Takayama' too." Koushiro said, taking out the flashlight he had brought along. Tai did the same. They walked for a while in the rows of gravemarkers. They were reveling in the eerie silence of the place when Tai stopped suddenly.  
  
"Koushiro, look." Tai shined his flashlight on a grave. The name on it read 'Izumi Koichi.' "Relation?" Tai asked.  
  
"Possibly...what's the dates?" Koushiro asked.   
  
"Uh...oh, gosh, this guy was young! July 2, 1988 to March 18, 1989. He wasn't even a year old!" Tai exclaimed. Those dates sounded awfully familiar to Koushiro.  
  
"Niisan..." He whispered quietly. He unfolded the newspaper clipping again to check the date. The date on it read 'April 15, 1989.'  
  
"That's freaky..." Tai said.  
  
"No, it's not." Koushiro said quietly. He looked Tai square in the eyes. "He would have been my older brother. Well, not really, but..."  
  
"Uh...sorry..." Tai said, not exactly sure what to say.  
  
"It's alright." Koushiro said. "I guess Mom was right...They did just loose him when my parents died...I wonder what caused him to die so young..."  
  
"Yeah, but something else there is freaky." Tai said, smiling a bit.  
  
"What's so freaky then?" Koushiro asked.  
  
"Koko-chan...Don't you see it?" Tai asked. Koushiro just shook his head.  
  
"I don't get it, Taichi." Tai just sighed and grabbed Koushiro's notebook and wrote down both of their names. Then he crossed out the first part of his name and the last part of Koushiro. "Get it now?" He asked, then pointed to the grave. Koushiro finally understood what Tai was getting at.  
  
"Yeah...It's also kinda wierd that we had similar names. I thought mom and dad were just distant cousins of my parents..."  
  
"That doesn't mean that they couldn't have been friends with them too, you know." Tai said.  
  
"But for both of us to have similar names...unless...you don't suppose..." He looked at Tai. "My name is really supposed to be 'Koichi' too...and they changed the '-ichi' to '-shiro'...so they wouldn't be reminded of him?"  
  
"Koko-chan, you use your brain too much." Tai grinned at Koushiro.  
  
"But..." Koushiro tried to protest, when Tai kissed him.  
  
Tai ran a hand through Koushiro's hair. "Koushiro-kun, I know, you want answers, but...sometimes, I think you take a small piece of truth and turn it into something more than just the truth. It's like you take one grain of rice and try to make mochi out of it. Can't you just live with what you already know?" Tai asked.  
  
"Tai-chan...It's not so simple..." Koushiro sighed, and tore a clean sheet of paper from his notebook and started writing.  
  
"What are you doing?" Tai asked.  
  
Koushiro smiled. "Something...Could I have a moment alone?" He asked. Tai nodded.  
  
"I'll be by the entrance...You're not going to keep looking for your parents graves, are you?" Koushiro shook his head.  
  
"It's dark, and I promised I'd be home by ten." He answered, still writing.  
  
"Alright." Tai bent down and kissed Koushiro. "Love you."  
  
Koushiro just nodded, focusing on what he was writing. Tai knew he wouldn't respond when he was like that, but just felt the need to do that. Koushiro wrote for the next few minutes, then pulled a roll of scotch tape and taped the paper to Koichi's marker. Koushiro smiled sadly. "Niisan...I may not have known you, but, well, I'm sure you would have been a great brother." He put away his notebook and pencil and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm sure that wherever you go in the afterlife that my parents are probably watching over you, like yours are watching over me." With that, Koushiro walked towards the entrance to the cemetary where Tai was waiting for him.  
  
"You alright, Koko-chan?" Tai asked him. Koushiro nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright. I think it's time to go home. We both have little sisters that are probably missing us." With that, the two walked arm in arm back to Koushiro's home. While in the night, the note ruffled in the light breeze.  
  
"Dear Koichi -  
I came here searching for my parents graves, and instead found yours. Not intetionally, of course. If you had lived, you probably would have been my older brother. It's when I think of you that I realize how lucky Takeru and Kamiya Hikari are. And I realize that Nika is pretty lucky herself. Though I wish that I would have had you as a role model of how a big brother should be. Though I know all I can do is try. And Tai was right, I was probably trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. I still think it's strange we have similar names. I leave this in memorial of someone who would have been great brother, had you had the chance to live. Even though I didn't know you, I still feel that I love you somehow. I know only the living will see this note, but I don't care. It's how I feel, and for those that want to know, this is here for them to read.  
Love,  
Koushiro"  
  
~~The End~~ 


End file.
